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Warm Swabian potato salad with potato slices, diced bacon, onion and pickle pieces in a glass bowl on a tablecloth with red hearts and green leaves

Swabian Potato Salad with Bacon and Pickles

This Swabian potato salad is served warm: sliced potatoes in a hot broth dressing with bacon, onion and crunchy pickles. There is no mayonnaise. The starch in the potatoes soaks up the dressing while the salad rests for 10 minutes.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: German
Calories: 445
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kg small to medium waxy or mostly waxy potatoes about 2.2 lb, washed, skin on
  • 4 to 5 medium-sized pickled gherkins from a jar (Essiggurken). About 50 g each assumed for the nutrition estimate. Check the label
  • 125 g smoked bacon, finely diced about 4.5 oz. The original says Speck; diced raw ham (Rohschinkenwürfel) works instead. Check the label
  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 125 ml water about 1/2 cup
  • 150 ml water, for the Instant Pot method about 2/3 cup, poured into the pot for cooking the potatoes; not needed for the stovetop method
  • 2 tbsp gluten-free vegetable broth powder mix with the dressing water beforehand beforehand. Weight not given in the source
  • 3 tbsp pickle brine from the jar 45 ml
  • 3 tbsp neutral vegetable oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed oil 45 ml. 1 tbsp for frying, 2 tbsp for the dressing
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper optional, to taste at the end

Method
 

  1. Cook the potatoes. Instant Pot: pour 150 ml (about 2/3 cup) of water into the pot, then cook the washed, unpeeled potatoes for 5 minutes on Pressure Cook (High), let the pressure release naturally for 5 to 10 minutes, then release the remaining steam carefully. Stovetop instead: cover the potatoes just barely with salted water, bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for about 20 to 25 minutes, depending on size, until a small knife slides into the middle without resistance.
  2. Slice the potatoes. Drain them and let them cool until at least lukewarm. Peel them or leave the skin on, as you like, and cut them with a sharp knife into slices about 5 mm (about 1/5 inch) thick, so that they do not fall apart. Unpeeled potatoes add flavor and hold their shape better when you fold in the dressing; scrub or wash them well first.
    Cooked potato slices with some skin still on in a glass bowl on a dark stovetop
  3. Prep the pickles and onion. Halve the pickled gherkins lengthwise and cut them into thin half-moons. Dice the onion finely. Add the gherkins straight to the potatoes in a roomy salad bowl.
  4. Fry the bacon and onion. Cook the diced onion and bacon (or ham) in 1 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan or small pot over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until the onion is glassy and the bacon is lightly crisp.
    Diced bacon and onion frying in a dark non-stick pan
  5. Deglaze. Pour in the broth you mixed beforehand from 125 ml water and 2 tbsp gluten-free vegetable broth powder. Stir in the remaining 2 tbsp oil and the 3 tbsp pickle brine from the jar.
  6. Simmer the dressing gently for about 3 minutes.
  7. Combine and rest. Pour the boiling-hot dressing evenly over the lukewarm potatoes and gherkins and fold it in gently but thoroughly. Let the salad rest for 10 minutes so the starch soaks up the dressing. Stir carefully once more before serving and season with salt and pepper if needed.
    Warm Swabian potato salad with potato slices, diced bacon, onion and pickle pieces in a glass bowl on a tablecloth with red hearts and green leaves

Notes

Gluten-free: the recipe names gluten-free vegetable broth. Check the labels of the bacon (or ham) and the pickles as well: look for wheat, rye, barley or oats in the ingredient list (the EU requires these to be highlighted) and for malt vinegar. A product marked gluten-free is the safest choice; no special brand is needed.
Serving suggestion: this salad goes well with baked Bavarian Leberkäse. See our Baked Bavarian Leberkäse with Swabian Potato Salad recipe.
Make ahead: the salad tastes very good the next day, so it works well as leftovers. Keep it covered in the refrigerator.
Vegetarian version: leave out the bacon and fry the onion in oil only. For a smoky flavor, fry diced smoked tofu (check its label for gluten) or a little smoked paprika along with the onion. The nutrition values on this page are for the version with bacon.
Potato type: waxy or mostly waxy potatoes slice cleanly and hold their shape. Cooking time depends on size, so test with a small knife. Do not leave the potatoes in the Instant Pot for too long: overcooked potatoes fall apart when you slice them and fold in the dressing.
Nutrition values are an estimate calculated from the ingredient list, not a lab analysis. They assume 4 servings and do not count the optional salt and pepper.